The Sun. — London, England, 1836-06-09 00:00:00

".~w'! ~,,..,ati~ ,~\ and two other places, praying ‘Or the abolition of church- rates. Mr. C. FITZSIMON presented a petition from Monks town, in the county of Dublin, praying for an adequate measure of corporate reform for the people of Ireland, and also for the total extinction of tithes. Mr. J. POWER presented several petitions from tl;c county of Wexford, containing a similar prayer. Mr. M. O'CONNELL presented several petitions from the counties of Meath and Wicklow in favour of Corpora -6011 Reform, and for the abolition of tithes. COPYRIGHT BILL. POULBURN presented a petition from the Uri•- versity o f Cambridge against the Copyright Bill. The ArIORNEY-GENER AL presented a petition, signed by personlc of all parties in Edinburgh, against some parts o f t h e Scotch :Municipal Corporation Bill. GRANTS OF LL!-ND IN THE COLONIES. Mr. WARD wished to obtain permission to brini, on his motion for a Committee on tke subeet of the mode in which land is disposed of in the .liolonies, out of the -..';‘r:ular course, and before the orders of tke day. If the Com mittee were not f o rthwith appointed, :t might not have time :o report this session. Sir GIEORGE GREY said Ministers hail no objection to the imni:,cliate appointment of a Committee to inquire into the subject as tar as the Australian cAonie3 were con- cerned. Mr. O'CONNELL mentioned that the Hon. Member for Bath wished the inquiry to extend to the Canadas. Sir GEORGE GREY did not know what were the w i s h e s and intentions of the Hon. Afemi3er for Bath ; he would only state how far Government were disposed to go. If the Hon. Member were satisfied wish the limitation of the Committee to the Australian colohies it might be ap pointed, and the House could then proceed with the orders of the day. Mr. ROEBUCK had no objection to the extension of the inquiry to the Canadas ; on the contrary, he was ra ther desirous that it should be so extended. Mr. WARD observed that under these circumstances he had no choice but to bring the question forward in the usual course. The SPEAKER enforced the propriety of going through the orders of the day with regularity, in order that no par ties might be taken by surprise.—Cheers,) REGISTRATION OF VOTERS (IRELAND.," Mr. Sergeant JACKSON asked when the Irish Regis tration of voters Bill was so be brought forward, if indeed it were meant to be brought forward at all this session ? Lord MORPETH answered that the Attorney-General f)r Ireland had fixed upon Monday next, when he believed it was his intention to proceed with the measure. Mr. SHAW adverted to the Civil Bill Courts Bill, and urged that it should be introduced without delay, in justice to the measure itself. PROCESSIONS IN IRELAND. • Colonel PERCIVAL inquired whether the attention of the Irish Government had been drawn to the conduct of an armed procession on Whit-Monday last in Wexford, in which the men were dressed in green, as they had been on Whit-Monday, 1798. Lord MORPETH was not aware of the particulars to which the Hon. and Gallant Member referred, but he would make inquiries. VOTERS REGISTRATION BILL. Mr. BERNAL directed the attention of the Attorney- General to the Voters' Registration Bill, which stood for to-day. If it were not passed soon it would be too late, and there was a good deal of anxiety on the subject out of doors. The ATTORNEY-GENERAL well knew that the 20th of June was close at hand, and that if the Bill were not passed before that date the law must remain as it was for another year. He had, therefore, intended to ask Hon. Members to give this measure precedence. Sir R. PEEL observed that the impression was that the Voters' Registration Bill would not come on iota later in the evening, and if the Right Hon. Gentleman ! visited to bring it forward early he ought to have given notice of that intention sooner. The ATTORNEY-GENERAL admitted the im portance of allowing one open day to Members. He ap prehended, however, that nobody could be taken by sur prise, and it was extremely important to all parties that the measure should not be delayed. Captain PEC HELL felt it his duty to consent to post pone a Bill, the promotion of which he had undertaken. Mr. Alderman WOOD could not agree to defer two important Bills in which he was interested. They had already been long delayed. HACKNEY CARRIAGES. Mr. Alderman WOOD first moved the further conside ration of the Report on the Hackney Carriages (Metro polis) Bill, and afterwards that the House resolve itself into Committee for the purpose of imposing a stamp duty of ss. upon each carriage. Mr. ROEBUCK asked when the principle of the Bill was to be ,iiscussed, as he intended to induce the House to throw it o !it entirely. It seemed that the Chancellor of the Exchequer was not prepared to give the consent of the Crown to the duty of 55., proposed . 1 )y Mr. Alderman Wood ; and, in con sequence, the farther proceeding was postponed till Friday. S'i'EAM VESSELS. _ . FISHERY BILL. Captain PECHELL brought up,-the Report upon this Bill, and moved that it be re•commitied. Captain BERKELEY objected to clause 3, and moved Mr. Alderman WOOD moved the second reading of the • Steam Vessels (Thames) Bill. Mr. TOOKE admitted the necessity of some regulations for steam-vessels on the Thames, but wished to wait until the Report of the Committee now sitting on the port of London had been made. Mr. Alderman WOOD was understood to say that the Bill would be referred to that Committee. It was read a second time. BRIBERY AT ELECTIONS. On the motion of Mr. HARDY, the House went into Committee on the Bribery at Elections Bill. On clause 3, Mr. HUME objected to the penalty of 5001., as it was so large that it would never be recovered. Mr. PRYME moved to reduce the penalty to 501. After a few words from Mr. HARDY and Mr. CAYLEY, the amendment was withdrawn, and the clause agreed to. On claui..e 4 being proposed, Mr. ROEBUCK moved that the following proviso be added thereto .:—" Provided always, nevertheless, that no thing herein contained shall prevent the candidates or other persons from pro yiding conveyances for the voters to and from the poll at suoh electioni" After a protracted discussion, in the course of which se veral lion. Members protested against the provisions of the Bill being extended i o Ireland, as it would have the effect of disfranchising a veat number of voters, especially if the candidates were to be prevented paying the travelling expenses of the poorer classes o! electors, The Committee divided, when the numbers were— For the original clause . 65 For the amendment 5B Majority The clause was agreed to. Clause 5 (which provided against treating voters with refreshments, &c., at elections) was then put. After a lengthened conversation, the Committee divided. For the clause l3 Against it 4O Majority The clause was then ordered to be struck out. The House then resumed. The Chairman reported pro gress and obtained leave to sit again. The Poor-rate Bill was re-committed. The several clauses were agreed to, the House re sumed, and the report was ordered to be received toonor row (this day). POOR-LAWS (IRELAND). The Order of the Day having been read for the com mittal a the Poor Relief (Ireland) Bill. Sir R. MUSGRAVE Aould withdraw his motion for the eommital of the present Bill if the Noble Lord the Secretary thr Ireland would say from his place that the subject was under the consideration of the Government, and it was their intention either this session or early in the next session, to bring forward an efficient Poor-law Bill for Ireland. Lord MORPETH approved of the course taken with respect to this Bill by the Hon. Baronet, and he had no difficulty in assuring him that the subject was under the immediate consideration of the Government, and that he was not without a hope that the Government might be enabled to introduce some preparatory steps even in the course of the present session—( Hear, hear)—but, at all events, whether they could take those preparatory steps or no:, they would on the first opportunity in the next ses sion bring forward what they hoped would be a complete and satisfactory measure for the relief of the poor of Ire land.—(Hear, hear.) After a few words from Mr. GRATTAN and Mr. LUCAS, Mr. S. O'BRIEN and Mr. P. SCROPE said, on the understanding that the Government was pledged to bring torward the subject in the course of this or early in the neat session, they would withdraw their Bills. T; -, e Bill was then ordered to be committed this day s:x month?. RECOVERY OF TENEMENTS BILL. Mr. AGLIONBY moved the second reading of the Re col/cry of Tenements Bill. The Bill was read a second time, and ordered to be com mitted this day week. CHAPELS OF EAgF;:'BILL. On the motion of Mr. I,EFRO Y, th;,; Bill was read a second time, and ordered to be committed this week. COPYRIGHT ACT AMENDMENT Mr. BUCKINGHAM moved - the ideend reading of this Bill. ' 1 AL \\* 77f1= -‘IF-out. There was, he observed, an Act, for restricting, the size of the meshes. It was his opillion that if the clause was retained, the poorer classes of ilshernli n must be greatly injured. Captain PEC HELL defended the clause. A power, he remarked, was given to the magistrates at petit sessionr, in case of necessity, to afford relief by permitting the use of seine nets. After a few words from Lerd G. LENNOX and Mr. ELPIIINSTONE, the Committee divided. For the clause Against it Majority - Mr. CURTEIS moved the omission of the fourth clause. Captain PEC HE L L consented to omit it. Clause 5 was also omitted. The remaining clauses, with verbal amendments, were then agreed to, and the Bill was reported to the House. OYSTER FISHERIES BILL. The House then went into Committee on the further consideration of the report on the Oyster Fisheries Bill. Mr. FLEMIN G made a proviso to extend the protection given to oyster beds, from the Nth of May to the Ist of October in each year. After a short conversation the proviso was withdrawn ; and Mr. MILES moved that the 10th of September be sub stituted for the 4th of August. On a division there appeared— For the amendment Against it Majority The clause was then agreed to. Several other clauses having been agreed to, and it being ten minutes past Twelve o'clock, Mr. BROTHERTON moved that the Chairman re port progress, and ask leave to sit again. Mr. Kim' O'BRIEN seconded the motion. Mr. WALLACE and Mr. AGLSONBY opposed the motion, on the ground that it was a great interruption of public business regularly to put a stop to any important measure, because it was twelve o'clock. Mr. BROTHERTON felt the sense of the House and of the country was with him, as to the inexpediency of pro- ceeding with business at a late hour of the night. He must, therefore, persevere. Mr. G. YOUNG, however, appealing to the Hon. Member to let this measure, the discussion of which was nearly over, go through the Committee, Mr. BROTHERTON acquiesced, and withdrew his motion. The remaining clauses of the Bill then went through the Committee ; the House resumed, and the Report was or dered to be received this day. The other Orders of the Day were disposed of. On the motion of Mr. WARD, a Select Committee was appointed to inquire into the different modes in which land has been, and is at present, disposed of in the British Co lonies, and in the United States of North America, with a view to ascertain that mode which would be most beneficial in future both to the colonies and to the mother country, and which might be brought to bear more peculiarly upon the present state of Ireland, as connected with the ques tion of Poor Laws, Adjourned at a quarter before One o'clock. THE PLAGUE. TO THE EDITOR OF THE SUN. 1, Woburn• place, Russell-square, June 7. SIR-A rumour having been propagated that a malignant fever is now raging in the neighbourhood of Tottenham. court road, and as I am the surgeon of that division of the parish of St. Pancras, I take this public opportunity to state that I never knew that part of the metropolis so free from disease ; and at the present moment there does not exist a single case of fever in that neighbourhood. And I further beg to say, that I have visited Messrs. Shoolbred, Cook, and Co.'s esta blishment, where it was said the fever originated, and, with the exception of one case of slight inflammation of the lungs, the establishment is quite healthy. I have further consulted with the other medical gentlemen connected with the parish, and whose divisions are also free from any contagious disorder. I beg to hand a copy of a letter received this morning from the Privy Council. I am, Sir, your most obedient servant, ALEXANDER DELISSER. (COPY.) Council Office, Whitehall, June 7. SIR-With reference to your letter of this day's date, I have to acquaint you that the enquiries which have been made by Sir W. Pym have satisfied the Privy Council, that there is no truth whatever in the I - eport that the plague has appeared either in Tottenham-court-road or elsewhere in the metropolis. I am, Sir, your most obedient servant. (Signed) C. C. F. GREVILLE. To Alexander Delisser, Surgeon to the parish of St. Pancras. A deputation from Birmingham, accompanied by Messrs. Attwood and Scholefield, had an interview with the the Chancellor of the Exchequer on Tuesday respecting the reduction of the duty on paper. EMIGRATION. —On Thursday last the ship Greenock, Captain Fraser, left the Loudon Dock for New York, with 250 men, women and children on board principally Irish labourers from London, and the remainder farming labourers and fatnili;. , s, from the counties of Norfolk and Suffo!k. So extensive has been the emigration from the for mer county, that in several villages there are few labourers left, and in one there is not a single agricultural labourer re maining behind, the parish having induced the whole to emi grate, and assisted them with funds for that purpose. NEWSPAPER DUTY. For relief from this tax there had been presented up to the 6th of May only, no fewer than 394 petitions, signed by 206,554 persons. Against an assimilation of duty, 3 petitions, signed by 265 persons, (220 of whom are printers) have been sent from Dublin. DESTRUCTION BY FIRE OF THE CATHEDRAL OF CHARTRES.— A deplorable accident has just destroyed in a few hours one of our most beautiful monuments of gothic architecture. The better part of the magnificent Cathedral of Chartres has just been consumed by fire. We know not yet the particulars of the conflagration, the consequences of which are unfortunately irreparable. It is thought that the imprudence of 20111 e plumbers has caused this fire. —llloniteur of Monday. Ott Monday last, at Lincoln, a public meeting took place to petition Parliament on the subject of Irish Corpora tion Reform. liDucATioN.-011 the 6th of May Mr. [fume presented a petition from Thomas Wingman, praying the House to take into consideration the propriety of a grant for the purpose of erecting Normal Schools. We regret to state that Mr. Stanniforth, of Nas sington, had a kg broken on Thursday night the 26th ult. by Vie savage and violent conduct of one of his workmen, named Barr, about twenty years of age. A disagreement arising re specting the digging of some stone ,. Mr. Stanniforth repre hended' Barr for an unfair attempt to make wages ; upon which the fellow used language which irritated Mr. Stanni forth to hit him with his walking stick ; immediately the young ruti;:.‘n attacked the old man with a hammer, and after aiming several ;,'lows at him, succeeded in knocking him down with one which brs?ke the main bone of his left leg.—Boston Ga- zetie. SAD DOGS.-1 ti,Lnk the common dogs of Belgium the ugliest animals of the can!r;:t species in existence. They look like exaggerated ladies' purrs, w4l: the long, lank , sinewy limbs and hotly bodies of the old ' unshapeij moot* Irish swine. Every dog of them bears the mark of premature cad age on his crinkled brow and pursed mouth. They must be either sad dogs, or bad dogs, or thoughtful dogs, for they all appear pensive, and carry, ns it were, a weight upon their mind phy siognomically speaking, of course, for I cannot be otherwise supposed able to fathom their cogitations. Ido not think, however, that they are a persecuted race, or that their ugli ness entails its usual consequences on them, dwelling as they do among the sons and daughters of beauty. Perhaps the people encourage the breed as a sort of foil to Let off their own personal appearance.—A Saunter in Belgium. DIABOLICAL A TTEm PT.—One of the most fiend like attempts to commit murder of which this county , happily, has produced any instance, was made on the night o f Wednes day last, upon two unoffending people, Mr. Joseph Atkinson and his wife, of Warble Bank. Mr. Atkinson keeps a small public-house at the place named, which is situated about three miles from Wigton, oh the road to Bosley Hill. It ap pears that about midnight on Wednesday last, some one knocked at Atkinson's door, and requested to be admitted and to have lodgings for the night. Before opening the door the inmates requested to know who it was disturbed them at that late hour of the night. The stranger answered in a familiar manner, " Its me Joe Atchin ; let me in." Thinkin g it was some person known to th em , th e d oor was opened and he was admitted. He begged to be accommodated with a bed ; and this was agreed to. He then called for a pint of ale, which he promised to pay for in the morning ; and after drinking off the ale, he was shown to his apartment. To reach this room he had to pass through the bed room of Mr. and Mrs. Atkinson ; and after he had gone to bed, Mr. Atkinson also retired to rest. He had not been lone in bed, however, till he was awakened by feeling the knife of the stranger at his throat A frightful struggle ensued, in the course of which Mr. Atkinson was stabbed in the breast, with a pocket-kniie, his arms and hands were gashed in the most fright ful manner, and his fingers severely mangled. While this struggle was going on, Mrs. A. awoke and began to scream for help; and the ruffian, probably thinking he had done sufficient to the husband, let go his hold upon his first victim, and seized her by the head, which he g o t un der his ar m, and then attempted to cut her throat. In the struggle, however, he missed his aim, and she escaped with a few se vere wounds on the chin and face. In the mean time, a daughter of the unfortunate couple thus assailed, who was s l eep i n g in an adjoining room, was awakened by the noise, and ran out to alarm the neighbours. The villain did not ap pear to be conscious of the presence of a third person in the house, for as soon as he heard her rush out and g ive the al arm, he desisted from his work of blood, and immediately made in m effectual st e p s w ill be taken to bri4.7 escape, taking the r oad towards Ros!ey,_ and as y e t re mains at :lrge , thou g h we trust the mast him to justice. Wi)en our account came away, Atkinson was stilt j ive, , ether despawe o but lying in a tigs c t . dingens state, though his life was not Itt:1 lisle Journal. '‘N•••• ti THE SUN, LONDON, THURSDAY, JUNE 9., I 536. SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS. The Duke of Bedford has subscribed 1001. to the O'Connell fund ; and this has drawn on his Grace the following atrocious attack in the Times of yesterday : " A correspondent begs us to remark upon the consis tency of that humane and Constitutional Nobleman, his Grace the Duke of Bedford, the Mammoth of Church plunderers, the Leviathan of appropriators ;' he whose whole estate is Church robbery, and nothing but Church robbery—the prey of tyrants transferred to the gripe of sycophants. The Duke of Bedford's name is put down for a subscription of lOU to Mr. Daniel O'Connell, to pay the cost of defending his unprincipled usurpation of another man's scat in Parliament. What, then, according to ac credited rumour, was the voluntary contribution of the sam, Nobleman for the relief of the poor Irish clergy, pe rishing through hunger caused by the policy of that Duke's own son ? Was it not as follows ?-01. Os. Od. ?" There is no mistaking the object of this attack. It is to deter other individuals of rank from imitating his Grace's example. It is a renewal of the same system of abuse by which John Bull sought to intimidate people of rank from visiting Queen Caroline. That the effect will not correspond to the intention, we are certain. In the case of Queen Caroline men shrunk from exposing female delicacy to even the breath of suspicion. They who would have disregarded libels on themselves could not bring themselves to subject their wives and sisters to the same ordeal. But what gentleman of any spirit would not feel himself rather stimulated to subscribe than otherwise by the coarse attack of the Times, were it only to show his sense of the insult. In fact, the attempt to intimidate people I of rank, through the blow aimed at the Duke of Bed ford, will be the means of adding to the subscriptions to the O'Connell fund. And what is the pretext for attacking the Duke of Bedford? Because, forsooth, his ancestor, three hundred years ago, received a grant from Henry the Eighth of part of the pro perty possessed by the religious houses prior- to the Reformation ! It has been again and again remarked that a very large proportion of the noble families of England are indebted for their estates to the Reforma tion. We are not now called on to inquire into the justice of the proceedings by which Henry acquired the property, and again bestowed it on his favourites. All we can say is that if we are to ascend to the origin of all private estates, the grants of quondam Church lands will, in many cases, be found the least objection able of the sources of acquisition. But let us assume that the grant of Church lands was originally indefen sible, and that no length of possession through in nocent descendants can efface the quality of the ori ginal title—why, we ask, is the Duke of Bedford to be singled out from all the individuals similarly circum stanced for attack ? If his Grace and his descendants are never to be deemed free agents, but to beat the mercy of any scribler who chooses to demand from them an ae count:of the use they make of their revenues, every other nobleman who possesses what once were Church estates must be held equally open to attack. We warn the nobility and gentry of England that they are struck at through the Duke of Bedford, and we would have them beware how they encourage a system of warfare from which they cannot escape unhurt. If every Nobleman whose ancestor owed his elevation to Royal favour or to Royal frailty is to be gibbetted on account of the founder of his family, we should like to know who may consider themselves safe ? The present Duke of Bedford may console himself with the knowledge that neither he nor his predecessor would have been abused on account of the original quality of their possessions, had their own conduct been open to animadversion. When Burke was twitted with his pension by the Duke of Bedford and the Eerl of Lau derdale, he had the weakness and bad taste to reproach the former with the grants to his ancestor by Henry VIII. If all the genius of Burke, however, could not reconcile the public to the injustice of his attack, or the bad taste which it evinced, his wretched imitator may be safely treated with contempt by his Grace. In the present day there is a growing reluctance to allow men to take credit for the virtues of their ancestors. But if it be not allowable to draw on fame acquired 300 years ago, it can as little be just to call a Noble man of the present day to account for the actions of an ancestor who has been 300 years in his grave. But however this may be, the Tories should bear in mind that the poisoned chalice may be commended back to their own lips.—Morning Chronicle. We are glad to find, from the intimation of the Chancellor of the Exchequer, on Tuesday night in the House of Commons, that at last a legislative re form of the Post-office department is to be undertaken. Mr. Wallace had prepared for that evening a series of resolutions, founded upon the reports of Com mis. sions of Inquiry, which we have lately adverted to ; and, had these resolutions been proposed, we have no doubt that, by acceding to them, the House of Com mons would have pledged itself to act upon the strong recommendations for Reform which the reports of the Government Commissioners contain. The Ministers have, however, taken the more regular and convenient mode of introducing Bills upon their own responsi bility ; and it now only remains for the public by dili gent attention to the subject, to keep the attention of his Majesty's servants alive with respect to it. We know how many matters of mere party importance and party interest will probably come in the way of this practical improvement, and personal convenience, as well as personal feeling, be enlisted in the cause of postponement. But these obstacles the public must endeavour to counteract ; and Mr. Wallace will, we trust, keep a sharp look-out upon the progress of that reform, although it is no longer in his hands. From the year 1788 to the present time the expediency of a .eneral reform and reconstruction of the Post-office department has been enforced in official documents ; but the Legislature has never acted upon the recommendation, because the public never took up the subject with any degree of earnestness. It will, perhaps, be said that this is a proof that the public felt the service of the department to be well performed. But this would be a hasty conclusion. Of all the departments of revenue, that of the Post-office is naturally the most popular, because at the very moment we pay the tax we perceive that we have at least some value received in the con veyance of a letter to our hands. The public at large have observed a speedy and regular transmission of their correspondence, and have not cared to inquire fur ther ; but all who have examined into the internal affairs of the Post-office for the last half century, have concurred in the opinion that reform in matters of expenditure, and internal regulation, was loudly called for. The Sixth Report of the Commissioners of Inquiry, appointed by the present Government, appears to have given the finish to this series of recommendations, and to have done so in terms so strong, and supported by evidence so astounding, that no further delay c ou ld, with any show of reasonableness, be suffered to take place. The Government could not read it without being awakened to the necessity of an immediate re medy for such grievances. The terms of Mr. Wal lace's intended resolution with respect to this Report are by no means stronger than the statements in that Report fully bear out ; and the shortest way of con veying- to our readers an idea of its character will be to quote that resolution as it appears upon the notice paper of the House of Commons :—" Resolved, that the Sixth Report of the Commissionehs.°ffiee, w hi c h r e s tc a o p m po m ii a u n e d d to f e he t eti managementto tthis House of us thee by Pt o ihnagsubeenre into t n re presented Majesty, demands the immediate attention of his Majesty's Government ; that b y the said Six th Report , which specially relates to the steam- p a cket establish lry requires th e greatest censure ments of the Post-office , it a pp ears that ver y gross mis management, a neglect, and waste, have taken place in that dep orftn thisrei it House,,whi(!llinlaii:deraittis irodipt and e ff ectua l interference." This is rea ll y a mild resol ution com pared with that which a vindictive opponent of the Post-office might have formed upon the repo r t, as an y one may see by reference to its appendix, and to the evidence concerning the greatest of the packet esta blishments--namely', that at Holyhead. It would not be fair to say t h at t his character is attributable to other branches of Post-office management, b ut i n many of them loose administration and neglect of economy are very apparent. As to the Post-office Navy, it is a burlesque, and too absurd for criticism. Its graver faults have, however, been pointed out in one of the most searching reports on a public matter tlat, has ever come under our notice. Since the famous report of the commiswoperl of Naval Inquiry, there has not appeared so severe and circumstantial a censure upon the management in a public department. We understand, from the short speech of the Chan cellor of the Exchequer upon the subject, that several Bills will be considered necessary for putting the Post office department on a right footing, and we agree in the prudence of this determination. The Right Hon. Gentleman has, perhaps, found from his experience in the new Stamp Act how very inconvenient it is to at tempt a completely new system , embracing many dis tinct heads in one Bill. What seems most urgently to be required is, first, that the department to be re-mo delled as to its management, in conformity with the fourth report of the Commissioners of Inquiry ; and, secondly, that a general tariff of postage be established, which every one may understand, and from the regula tions of which there will be no exceptions. This must, of course, include new standards as to what shall be considered double and treble letters, and a new regula- Times. tion of the fanciful charges upon foreign Papers, the present mode being irreconcilable with common sense. As to the waste in the packet establishments, that may be remedied at once by better administration, or better still by transferring them at once to the Admiralty ; but new laws upon the higher points are absolutely ne cessary, and as it is now late in the Session, we advise that the attention of the Government be closely kept to so important a subject.—Morning Herald. There are two great battles at this moment raging, the result of two simultaneous attacks upon the Con stitution handed down to us from our ancestor;. The assailants are in both cases the same, the end the same, although the paths of proceeding towards it be diversified. In one instance the property of the Church is to be plundered ; in the other, the rights of Corpo rations are to be transferred. The Popish hicrachy offers itself a ready recipient for the spoils of both, and has been accepted for such, and for such has been ap pointed, on the part of those who call themselves Ministers of the Protestant Sovereign of a United Kingdom, which it is the known purpose of that Po pish Priesthood to distract, pull asunder. and anni hilate. The subversion of the Church, through the machinery of the Tithe Bill, may be eventually no less fatal than the design to misappropriate the privileges and functions of Irish Corporatioils, but the latter would prove by far the more immediate mischief. O'Connell, in a careless moment, described with great accuracy the modus operandi of such municipal " re form" as the genius of revolutionists leads them to in flict on these tormented countries. He praises the mu nicipalities thus created for being schools of political " agitation." Agitation, for what ? If the municipal reform now established in England be what the Mi nisters declared it to be—an effectual and sufficient reform—if it have really removed old grievances, and placed the corporations of the kingdom on their proper footing, why should its tendency to facilitate " agita tion" be dwelt upon as a meritorious adjunct ? We have yet to learn that the encouragement of abstract agitation—habitual agitation—gratuitous agitation, is a proof of " absolute wisdom" in any Government— or the practice of it a promoter of public virtue or in dividual happiness amongst a people. Mr. O'Con nell's notion, however, is clear enough : one indis pensable feature of every municipal or political change must be its affording means for the production offur ther change by the excitement of popular turbulence. With regard to Ireland, this is the grand moving power of the Learned Gentleman's whole system. It is not so much this or that specific alteration of an existing institution which he aims at ; it is the erection of an apparatus for forcing ulterior objects, . not to be avowed, like a Russian scheme of aggression, until its success shall have become sure. Thus, we might have been at a loss to conjecture why Lord John Russell, who is of importance only as O'Connell's mouthpiece, should have appeared so cu riously bent on a collision with the House of Lords, by a contumelious rejection of their Lordships' amend ments in this Irish Bill of Reform, after he (Lord John Russell) had seen the expediency of so many modifications in its original structure, as left professedly few, and not very striking, points of difference between the Conservatives and them, had we not by experience familiarized ourselves with the O'Connell tactics, which go almost exclusively to the preparation of means for further movements. It is of little significancy in the mind of this conspirator what may be the express and definitive powers granted by the Municipal " Re form" to King on one side, of Corporator on the other, so that the practice of public meetings, of speeches, resolutions, petitions, remonstrances, the whole quackery of perennial agitation, be legalized, nay, enjoined by Act of Parliament, as inse parable from the attributes of Corporate assemblies meeting by adjournment, or otherwise, from week to week. These priests of an unholy fire must never let the flame go out, or themselves arc doomed to perish.' Lord John Russell, we see, complains that the House of Lords had mutilated the Reform Bill in " every member"—that " its principle had been fatally altered," in order to effect a purpose the " reverse of that contemplated by its framers." God be praised that the House of Lords had the wisdom and spirit to execute any change in the Bill at all likely to defeat " the object contemplated by its framers,' or rather affected by them. The genuine object meditated by the framers of the Bill, or, we ought to say, by him who governs them, is, to keep up the machinery of disturbance throughout Ireland as an instrument for promoting the great end of all things—the sub jection of the people to a sway which is not that of the magistrate, and the consolidation of a power like that just exposed in the House of Lords, on the petition of Mr. Mulholland, against the barbarous despotism of a Popish Archbishop—a power which treats the laws of England with con tempt, and makes the law of God a matter of nefarious traffic—the supremacy of the Romish church. For this it is Lord J. Russell got up his slipslop ad dress to a motley audience on Tuesday last, at the F o reign-office—for this it is that in the plenitude of his condescension to the House of Lords, he extends to their Lordships the olive branch, in the shape of a gross comparative aggravation of the most crying evils inherent in the former Bill, and then invokes heaven and earth to witness the gentle and moderate spirit of the House of Commons Radicals l We allude espe cially to the new proposition for reincorporating eleven of the largest towns in Ireland, backed as it was by provisions that the smaller ones should each have have its slice out of the apple of discord. But if there was in the Municipal Bill, as first concocted, one characteristic more noxious than another, it was the c onversion of the larger towns of Ireland into so many spouting schools of turbulence. Village ex citement operates over a narrow surface ; the actors are for the most part humble the interests mi nute—the stakes contended for mean and paltry— the public know little about the matter—the whole scene is isolated, and the infection need not spread : whereas, a great city sets a proud example, its pro ceedings are followed throughout extensive districts, its democratic leaders are models for those of every rural vicinage, and the mischief of which that city is the focus, disperses itself over a wide range of terri tory, pervading and stimulating vast sections of the population. Does Lord John Russell flatter himself that the Lords will accept as a peace-offering this concentration of the worst vices which were scattered over the original Bill ? We know very well that he does not. Does O'Connell, who, to preserve his mastership over the little Lord, was for increasing the eleven proposed colleges of disaffection to 16—does he fancy that he can dupe the House of Lords into a trap like this, under the silly name of " coni , promise ?" The Agitator is far too 04perienced in the arts of deception, and too conscious o f c those limits which they can never pass. But the Lords are frightened—are they ? and will make concessions to O'Connell on this municipal mea sure ? Who told the Radical journalist of Tues day, and misled him into so premature a boast ? The Lords will not yield an inch upon this question ; they feel that it involves a vital interest in the monarchy, and they will not go back an inch. The House of Lords, which has an enduring stake in the welfare of the kingdom, and in the just protection of liberty and pro perty, knows better than to hand them all over, bound neck and heels, to the mercy of a priesthood whose whole establishment is framed in a spirit of dark and unrelenting despotism, under the flimsy devise of pro curing a town mob to shout forth the sureoioos (rat intriauing hierarchy. The pine thiOtig 'the progress of a faction at once shallow, precipitate, and wanting in moral courage, have now become the sole trustworthy guardian of our national rights and institu tions. Blind as are the Ministers to their own honour and best interests, and infatuated those few men of rank and wealth who adhere to them, we do not de-.. spair that the brave example of the Upper House of Parliament mly yet recall both to their senses.— Yesterday, the electors of Middlesx and Finsbury respectively assembled to express their determination to support the principle of equal justice to Ireland, against the insulting and despotic manifestation made by the Lords in opposition to the Government and Commons of Great Britain. Both meetings, of the proceedings of which a summary will he found else where, were numerously attended. Most eloquent and spirited speeches were made, and strong resolutions passed in favour of the Irish Corporation Reform Bill as passed by the House of Commons. Mr. O'Con nell attended, and spoke at each of the meetings with his accustomed energy and effect. Mr. T. Duncombe made a short, vigorous, and manly address to the elec tors of Finsbury, which was received with vcry great enthusiasm. It is not now necessary to reiterate the re futation, which has again and again been given to tht base sophistries with which the Tories, and their parti zans endeavour to bolster up their resistance to the re stitution of those rights which are coeval and coeternal with the life of universal man. The justice of the principles assailed is so evident, that the adduction of argument in their support is like an endeavour to demonstrate that light is not darkness, or any other fact in nature which strikes conviction at a glance, by mere perception, without the aid of reason. The re cusants must be met by another force than that of argument, if they close their eyes against the truth ; we must try if they will not open them to their own danger. Since the Lords have repudiated the dic tates of justice and reason, they must be brought under the influence of other appliances—if they do not willingly advance with the onward movement of the age, they must be either carried on -.by the com pulsion of public opinion, or left to the fate which their obstinacy must inevitably bring down upon them. The meetings which have recently been held in this country in favour of " justice to Ireland," may be considered not less an evidence of the present state of public opinion than as a premonitory symptom of what, it will be, should the necessity of the times ultimately require a stronger and more distinct exhibition of the national will—a will which requires only a simultaneous expression to make it irresistible. We are willing to give the Lords the most ample opportunity of redeeming themselves in public es timation—but we confess we see hut little probability of their doing so. They may acquiesce in the re amended Irish Municipal Reform Bill—but the ap propriation clause of the Irish Church Bill seems an impassable barrier to a reconciliation between the two Houses. And when we look forward to the other changes which are essential to the promotion of the general good, and to which the hereditary Chamber is instinctively and inveterately opposed—such as the abolition of the law of primogeniture, the extension of the suffrage, the ballot—the free importation of food, or, in other words, the repeal of the most iniquitous Corn Laws—liberty of conscience, or the perfect re moval of religious distinction and disabilities, and, in a word, the demolition of every abuse which sacrifices the interests of the many to those of the few—it ap pears, in fact, better, in the first place, to make one great effort for the removal of the prime obstacle to those just and necessary measures, than to fritter away time and exertion in forcing each individually into operation against the intolerance, insanity, and in justice of hereditary legislation.—Morning Advertiser. The electors of Middlesex met yesterday at a riding school, near Portland place, to discuss the wrongs of Ireland and the price of coals. Who the wag is who suggested the absurd junction of the entertainments did not transpire, though it was currently reported that the thing had its origin in a bet of Under-sheriff Pear son. We recollect hearing of a Cambridge professor, who eulogised the celebrated Robert Boyle as " the fa ther of chemistry, and the brother of the Earl of Cork ;" but this specimen of bathos is nothing com pared with yesterday's farce. The building in which the meeting held is 120 feet by 40, and, notwithstanding the attraction of the Sheriffs' gaudy coaches and li veries, two live Sheriffs, and two ditto under-ditto, the coal question, the proximity of several Mews, Clarence-gardens, and Cumberland-market, at no time, except when the big beggarman exhibited, was the school half filled. As a meeting it was a decided failure : as a meeting of county electors it was a joke ; but although by far the largest portion of the landed property of the meeting was evidently at their fingers' ends when a show of hands was taken, we think it only candid to admit that we really believe a majority of those present had a hat a-piece on an average. Sir J. S. Lillie, a Mr. Hovenden, and a Mr. Young, who polled three hundred votes for the borough, broke ground, as at fairs, where they let off the smallest crackers first. They came " Joseph," both for Ireland and coals, thunder and turf, black and white—then the beggarman held forth—then we had the coal S—then Mr. Bulwer (of the Lambtou primrose sort), who was hissed, and of course, the more he was blown the mare he blazed. However, his was decidedly the most ingenious speech of the day, for he succeeded in totally blinking or screening (to speak technically) the coals, and made a speech about the Lords and Ireland, until Mr. Pearson, who takes a strong and disinterested interest in this ques tion, reminded him of the black diamonds, when, slip ping in a sentence about the fuel, as a careful house. wife in Ireland mixes a few exhausted cinders with the earthy stuff that she rakes together for a fire, the lion. Member evaporated. Not a person of the slightest weight was present ; and if anything were necessary to show the implicit confidence which the wealth, and talent, and respectability of the metropolitan county repose in the House of Peers, it was the total and un disputable absence of any one of those qualities at this miserable—most miserable exhibition.—Morning Post. PARLIAMENTARY SUMMARY. In the LORDS' there was no attendance, In the COMMONS', after the presentation of petitions, Mr. Ward brought forward his motion for a Committee of In quiry relative to the dispowl of Land in our Colonies, in order that the application of the best mode might be made to bear on Ireland as connected with the question of Poor Laws.—Motion agreed to, The Thames Steam Vessels Bill was read a second time. The House then went into Committee on the Bribery at Elections Bill, and disposed of several clauses. Mr. Scrope, Sir H. Musgrave, and Mr. O'Brien severally withdrew their respective Bills for the relief of the Poor in Ireland, in consequence of an assu rance from Lord Morpeth that next Session a Ministerial measure on the subject would be brought forward. Two or three Bills were then advanced h stage, after which the House adjourned, A REMARKABLE CASE OF SOMNAMBULISM.- About three o'clock Friday morning a young man, about twenty years of age, was observed running at an extremely rapid pace along Dean-street, Westminster, and through the various other streets in almost a state of nudity, till he arrived near the Thames, at Millbank, where he halted, exclaiming in an agonising tone, " Oh, save them, save them—my wite, my child, my love ;" and after the pause of an instant, " Oh, they are not there—they are gone—l must follow ;" at the same time running towards the Thames, The person who had observed him in Dean-street hid {although himself a swift runner) with great difficultN Leo up with him : however. per ceiving his intention, he caught hold of the somnambulist when in th.. nos of rushing into the water. Upon being stop pod, the latter burst into tears, but all recovering himself in some degree, he appeared conzoious of his dangerous situation, and after thanking his F,Tweator for his kind offices, a nd as suring him he had nev er b een k now n to walk in his sleep hefavo, he hastily rctr..iated homewards. Even wh en q uite, awake, lie seemed to gaze at th e water with a searching and troubled look, and it was a difficulty to persuade him that it was but the effect of a dream. By the arrivals from America to the sth ult. the first double sheet of one of the United States papers, the Morning Courier and New York Enquirer, has been re ceived. It is a larger paper by three inches each way than any newspaper published in this metropolis, containing about 2,376 inches of superficial printing. It contains not les!, ~i4 a n 2,094 advertisements. An interesting spectacle wr: ds V i i, esse d on t h e r i ver on Monday. Four fine ; 11 \pli belonging to the Hudson's. Ilay Co., and bound ko Mcison's Bay for furs, &c., were hauled out a onion Dock, and were towed down the river by ste'agers?f,ollowing closely after each other, with colours flying fedietbeir' 1 1 1 1 45.. The Company have hitherto only sent out tWQ Xeuteli` CH-IVUDNESDAY. KING'S BE DAY r. KING AND OTHERS. This was an action of trespass, brought to r ecover (12. mages for taking the plaintiff's goods. The plaintiff %vat an inhabitant of Cambridge, and the defendants were the Vice* Chancellor of Cambridge and other magistrates of that tow& The defendants had issued a warrant for taking the gno of the plaintiff', and the object of the nction was to recover damages for the seizure made under the warrant , which watk alleged to be illegal. Lord Abinger directed a nonsuit. dg subject to the opinion of the Court. A rule had since been obtained to set aside the nonsuit and have a new trial. Mr. Sergeant Stouss showed cause against the rule, which was supported by Mr. KELLY and Mr. GUNNING. Rule absolute for setting aside the nonsuit. BAIL COURT-WEDNESDAY. ---, The admission or attorneys during the Present Term has been very numerous ; between thirty and forty were ad mitted this morning. Previously to their taking the usual oaths, Mr. Justice COLERIDGE addressed them on the n ature of the duties they were about to be called upon to perform- IN THE MATTER OF THE CORPORATION OF LUDLOW. Mr. MAULE said this was an application on the p a rt. of Cot poration of Ludlow, to change the attorney in an action brought to try the question of right to cert^.'m lands. Rule nisi granted. POLICE INTELLIGENCE. MANSION-HOUSE. Yesterday a great deal of curiosity was excited by the investigation into a case in which a young man named .loliu Bullock was charged with having defrauded two elderly ladies of nearly 1,000/. in transactions connected with the purchase of Spanish Bonds on the Stock Exchange. The City Solicitor attended by order of the Court of Aldermen, with directions to prosecute, if in his judgment there were grounds for prosecution ; and Mr. HuaiPiilll appeared for the prisoner. The City Solicitor, having compendiously stated the nature of the charges of frau& said that it the prisoner could not be proved to have committed the imputed offence it was the intention of the City authorities to proceed against him, for having acted as a broker without being dul,y autho rised by the Court of Aldermen. The two ce,mplainant s had been ruined by the conduct pursued by the prisoner ; and the Court of Aldermen determined to afford all the protection they could to the public, by pwaishino• those who dared to act as sworn brokers without being qualified. Mrs. Elizabeth Smith, a lady on the verge of sixty , stated that she and her sist er res id e d at No. 29, Wal brook, and were in the habit of employing the prisoner jointly to sell stock for them, having for a consideral;le time employed his father for the same purpose. They - were very particular upon all occasions in desiring the prisoner to buy safe stock, and to run no risk ; and if he. bought Spanish, not to let it remain so that it would be. necessary to pay instalments. To follow these directio ns he faith fully promised. On the 6th of May, 1835, 1 , 1 e ca ll e d up?" them, and said that he had purchased. 1,020/. Spanish Scrip for them, and on the 7th and llt'n of May he state"' that he made similar purchases. Thr4 paid him the money each time for the Stock ; but received for the two first purchases neither the Scrip n'ar other authority, to pro ve that any transactions of th e kind had taken place. Th e excuses he made were that he had come out upon one oc casion in a hurry ac,d forgot to bring the Scrip, and upe° another that be tad deposited the Scrip at Curtis and R°' harts', and at Ladbroke's banking-house for convenienc e sake, that he might the more conveniently pay off the in stalments. At last he gave them a paper, the copy of which was, " 7th May, bought 1,0201. Spanish Scrip, a t 37k," and another to the same effect. The first sum theY gave him to pay for the Spanish Stock was 3771. odd, but the whole sum amounted to upwards of 1,100/., and a(L" cording to an accountant whom they had employed lo examine the accounts subsequently, their loss exceeded 900/. Sir PETER LAURIE asked whether the complainants had relied upon the mere statement of the prisoner in a m atter in which so much property was involved ? The witness said that they had told him of their to meet the instalments, but he replied that he would tale care of the instalments, and th a t as h e was i n th e habi t !!f accommodating others with money, he should find na dif ficulty in obtaining accommodation himself in the same:NOY' He desired them not to make themselves uncomfortable' and assured them that after the panic they would r ealize the sum they had laid out, and make a pretty profit. On the 25th of June he called upon them to contribr,te to the instalments ; he said he had got the necessary str.n, with the exception of 25/., and witness handed over thpt sum to lion' and on the 3d of August she gave him 1534. more to pa/ more instalments. On the same or the next day he brought back 102/., saying that he had sold 2,040/. Spanish Scrip on the 31st of July, to pay up all the instalments. They asked him how he came to do so in opposition to their di rections ; but he replied that he could not help it, and thus they were deprived of their property. The City Solicitor could prove that the prisoner kept n ° account at Ladbrok e ' s or R o b er t s ' s , an d t h at no Spanish Scrip was purchased by the prisoner for the complainan t-4 0 - Mr. Humphries (to the witness)—Pray were you nu t r ? divide the p re tty p ro fit s o f th e specu l at i on w i th the pris°°e' Witness—We were. Mr. Thomas Lander, clerk at Curtis ;'.nd Robarts'° Bank, said that the prisoner wa: s not at all 'known to hi m ' and had not deposited any Sr,anish Scrip at the h o use- Mr. Kennedy, a clerk at Ladbrokes, stated that the Pr i me soner kept no account, at that house, and had left no Sp' nish Scrip there. Sir PETER LAURIE could not help taking the oPP rtli nity to cautir,n the public against emb ar ki ng th e ir prope rt y in the nurnrzrous and unprincipled speculations whisk nt i aboundel Multitudes had been already destroyed aw veno:iring, and by and by it w ou ld b e seen to whit afri. fl.ll extent the public were injured to the aggrandiseme nt a few. The complainants assured the Alderman that 0 1 would not have made a public complaint in this ea se he they had no t b een re d uce d t o t h e greatest di stres s by t circumstance. The prisoner, who had, it was stated, in all forme ' r trans g : actions with th e com pl a i nan t s , an d w i t h a ll ot h e r pers°nod acted in a n h onoura bl e manner, was t h en di sc h a rged , % t upon leaving the bar was informed by the City Solicitor styor a prosecution should be instituted aga i ns t him for ll i t o j urt , acted as a sworn b ro k e r, w ith out t h e sanct i on o f the of Aldermen. HATTON-GARDEN. ?la Yesterday Henry Addison and William Harvey. Henry,. and William Daley, K e ll y , an d J one s, were r e- r; anuned, charged with havi ng comm itt e d ro bberies. 10 S he the pretence of taking 'ready-furnished lodgings. r office was crowded to ex cess b y i n di v id ua l s ready to pte'e charges. but th ey The prisoners deni e d th e w h o l e o f th e c harges, were committed up on th em , an d even t ua lly taken by Wa dington to the Hou se o f C orrec ti on . wad YLMAREBONE. i n JACK AND THE CABMAN.—A red-faced, je:4 lCi -- is son of Neptune, who gave his name as Jack R,ibilison• I I to brought up in custody on the charge of havir,,, refuse' pay the legal fare for the time of the cabriolet No. 7 35 , Al p t Jack, on being asked why he objected to pay c omPit rl- 1, his demand, placed his arms a-kimbo, and sa - isaid," MY 1.4° 1 - b' Lord and Gentlemen, the plain truth of the -matter, out any gammon or nonsense at all is this be e ' a t came over in the Spartan from New York, • and landed 0 Bristol, when I directly brought myself to an anch O l, a-top of a stage, and got into London 'ves-terdaY. fit' I happened, somehow or other, to be steering along ?na te, cliff jhighway, where I had just spol se with a ' hip if when up comes this land lubbe' : and ay.:a to wanted a ride, so I set sail in hi: craft, and told Ilare cut on like lightning to Tottenham -court-road. 13 , 11 t, I got into my berth, I says , says - - Now, In ate, 1 ", or taco !: price of my passage ?' and he !i.greed to land fl d bob, with the understanding, nr.y Lord, that o n the roa n / was to stand grog for us bol.h, which I did • and wile got out I offered the Vault, but he wo4dn't have I _ , and said he should charge for time instead of distanooeo Avast, there, my lad,' says I, I s h an 't pay it, 5,? you may do your best and be d—d ;' and with that he e a ," s ked fellow (pointing to a policeman), who I" a" me up in a little square crib worse than the, black-hole ; Calcutta. This, my Lord (making a profound bow, 411 4 sc raping his foot on the floor in true sailo , : -like style), I the whole truth, and no gammon whatsome 3ever." Jack Robinson was discharged. THUNDER _ _..._._.—........:_. Friday 1356 about • ' STORM.—At Stamford.. on heavY half-past two, the town was visited With a very as thunder storm, attended with rain ind hail ms large as red and beans. The peals of thunder resemble:a the disclia,riiitic.,, guns, and shook the very earth. The lig' ntning was a • i ! i _i .. grand, the peals of thunder which..follovve d being momenta y in S The electric fluid struck the I.Afant Si hoot by runnuiiif.n_ , north and south direction along, the wef ,t side of the b . t it ta one . of the windows was smasF.ed to alt ) ms . and the lea a a, e r n off, strange to say, up itt all forms ; the corner of the window sill was t tr . ; „ t as well as the corner of tte brickworl .-. at the gable end o. %... iikroa.. About the same time a Ono eking employ edaceident b ills none of the childre n were in the loacct__!ca to William Roberts, a stone-masom,ivhe was is of Smi'al, builder, of Stamford, in repairing the assistingparat in the high houses in St. Mary's-s ,tireet. He was he lost hen lifting a largo piece of lead lir on the scaffold, was killed on the spot. lie hr al a leg, a thigh, a ,". of hi shalanee, and falling to the p,Tound, a distance woarnfo.rty_ f arm broken, and the back part of h'is head was beaten l' u ritb tw ° a valuable servant, and has left a wife pregnaaunt,an _ small children, to lament the ,loss of A good hug d Lincoln Gazelle. d father. I